More than half of the top prizes at the 12th annual awards show — recognizing musicians inspired by American folk, country, blues, bluegrass, gospel and rock ’n’ roll — went to two musical pairs with local ties. Revered Nashville songsmiths Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell took home duo/group and album of the year honors, while roots-rock newcomers Shovels & Rope —featuring Nashville native Cary Ann Hearst – won emerging artist and song of the year awards.

Though they’ve been working together for decades, Harris and Crowell’s winning “Old Yellow Moon” was their first album as a duo. Speaking before the show, Crowell said the recognition from the Americana Music Association “means that we’re still able to do what we started doing, and I think better. We’re still standing.”

With international music attention focused this week on this Americana Music Festival, reporter Kevin Walters sheds light on the appeal of Americana music with a talk with Chris Pickering, who has an Americana sound and lives in Nashville, but is from Brisbane, Australia.

Chris talks about his move to Nashville from Brisbane, his new record “Circles” and his time working as a songwriter in Nashville, as well as his plans for the future.

Since 2003, the Nashville multi-genre musician has been the go-to host of the annual event, where he's been able to showcase his many musical sides and a healthy sense of humor. He coined his own catchphrase, "Now that's Americana!" - typically spouted after a top-notch performance - and then turned it into a self-aware song and dance number. It's a crowd-pleaser, but Lauderdale tells The Tennessean it may be up for retirement.

"It's gotten shorter and shorter," he says with a laugh. "I try to include Buddy Miller. The first year (I sang it), I got him to do a little jig with me onstage. I don't know if I'll have time to do it this year, or if it will be replaced by some new bit. But Buddy has made it clear over the years that he doesn't want to join me for the dance routine."

Luckily, Lauderdale and Miller's musical partnership is still going strong. The duo is up for album and duo/group of the year for their 2012 album "Buddy & Jim." Miller is also an Americana Honors fixture, serving as bandleader for the show's performances - when Lauderdale gets to soak in the evening.

"To be backstage and see all of these legends through the years...and then to get to see some of these up and coming folks that are so talented, and see what the future is like - it's a very special opportunity for me," he says.

Lauderdale releases his latest album, the bluegrass collection "Old Time Angels," on September 24.

There were no tours, TV stops or public appearances to support it, but The Civil Wars' self-titled sophomore album still managed to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 U.S. album chart this week with sales of over 115,000 units.

The roots-inspired pop duo - comprised of Nashvillian Joy Williams and Alabama resident John Paul White - have remained on hiatus from performing since November of 2012. Their 2011 debut "Barton Hollow" has steadily sold more than 800,000 copies to date, but the sophomore album's release marks both the group's highest chart position and best single week of sales.

“No” to thematic and sonic continuity. No to cohesion, at least for the time being.

Oates — who (news flash!) has penned giant radio hits including “Sara Smile,” “She’s Gone” and “Maneater” and sold more than 80 million albums as part of Hall & Oates, the most commercially successful duo in rock history — is releasing one digital single each month through his www.johnoates.com website as part of his “Good Road To Follow” project. The songs are all over the stylistic map, though many of them are aided by the middle portion of Tennessee’s map.

Even before Darius Rucker took it to the top of the country charts earlier this year, Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel” was already becoming a standard. Rucker was moved to cut it after hearing it performed at his daughter’s high school talent show.

One year later, the two members of the folk-inspired pop duo barely glanced at one another as they took the Grammy stage to accept a third award. It remains the only appearance the duo has made since November, when they canceled all of their concerts and announced, because of “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition,” that they were unable to continue touring.

White and Williams with Taylor Swift and T Bone Burnett at the 55th annual Grammy Awards, Feb. 10, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)

But while it was clear that evening that all was not well between the Nashville-based Williams and Alabama resident White, both were standing in support of the music they’d made.

“It was difficult getting up on that stage because we were still in a very difficult spot,” Williams recalls at home in Nashville. “But we both mutually wanted to show up, because of the music.”

Williams and White still aren't communicating, but on August 6, they’re once again uniting for the sake of the music - with the release of their second, self-titled album.

Many of its songs were written in the thick of their rise to stardom, and also in the tense months leading to the hiatus, when Williams says making music “still was a part of the vocabulary that we could have with one another, when other things were starting to feel a little bit more frayed.”

2013 is poised to be the biggest year yet for the Americana Music Festival. The Nashville-based event returns for its 14th year on September 18-22 and has just added more than 80 artists to the lineup, making for the festival's beefiest bill to date.

The Americana Music Festival & Conference is open to music industry professionals and the general public.

Admission is $350 for members of the Americana Music Association and $450 for non-members. Admission includes access to sanctioned daytime conference music, panels and parties, plus priority access to all evening showcase performances and a ticket to the 12th annual Americana Honors & Awards, which is Wednesday, Sept. 18, at the Ryman Auditorium. The general public can also purchase tickets for individual nightly showcases.

From left, John Paul White, Joy Williams, T Bone Burnett and Taylor Swift accept the award for song written for visual media for "Safe and Sound" (From The Hunger Games) at the 55th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — There are still helium balloons clinging to the ceiling and new toys scattered across a table in the living room when Joy Williams answers the door. The Civil Wars singer recently found cream cheese icing in her hair, she notes with laughter, more remnants of her son Miles' first birthday party the night before.

It is one of the happiest times for Williams, but as is often the case with life, it's also one of the most difficult. Over the next hour, Williams will laugh and cry and express a range of emotions from pride to fear and hope as she talks about the status of her Grammy Award-winning duo with John Paul White and their new self-titled second album. The group is officially on hiatus even as a single hits the airwaves and the album nears its Aug. 6 release date.

She is fiercely proud of the new music and can't wait for everyone to hear it. But she knows she has to tell the story of how things fell apart before she can expect anyone to pay attention to the music.